Inside Ahsoka Tano's Lightsaber Fighting Style In The Mandalorian

There were many reasons fans were excited for Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), to appear on The Mandalorian. One of them was finally seeing a live-action version of the multi-skilled (former) Jedi easily down some enemies with her impressive fighting skills. 

In the latest episode of the show, we got to see the beloved Star Wars character for the first time in live-action form. Previously seen only in animated Star Wars properties including Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars, Ahsoka arrives on the Mandalorian scene to free the civilians of the forest planet Corvus from the evil Magistrate (Diana Lee Inosanto), who is just fine torturing and murdering them all in the name of hunting down Ahsoka. To the delight of Star Wars fans everywhere, we didn't have to wait long to see her wield twin white lightsabers to strike down Calodan guards and help protect Mando and The Child (now named Grogu) on their journey. 

Ahsoka's appearance in "The Jedi" marks the first episode in the series to feature a fully trained Jedi, even if she is technically an apostate. Ahsoka's arrival gave us a perfect representation of her combat style, showing how powerful and deadly someone like her really can be.

After originally serving as Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka grew into a fierce fighter who became well-versed in various lightsaber combat styles. She began her studies with Shii-Cho, the most ancient style of lightsaber combat often taught to Younglings in the Jedi Order. After mastering the basics, Ahsoka grew to learn a more fast and aggressive technique called Form IV (or Ataru). We see Ataru on The Mandalorian. It's the stealthy and quick combat method used by a hooded Ahsoka as she sneakily takes down enemies in the forest at the beginning of the episode.

Ahsoka then learned the Form V, a style that combines defensive techniques that help the user exploit their opponent and open quick counterattacks. We can see Ahsoka use this style in the episode during her final battle with Magistrate, who is armed with a deadly beskar spear.

Fans praised the episode for its Kurosawa-influenced combat. It even got reviewers pondering whether or not Dawson will star in a spin-off show about Ahsoka. Whether or not that happens, Ahsoka helped give fans another great episode of The Mandalorian.